Painter and decorator
Prepare surfaces and apply paint, varnish, wallpaper and decorative finishes to interior and exterior surfaces.
Salary
Cited figures only: median full-time weekly earnings for the ANZSCO unit group Painting Trades Workers (3322) from Your Career (Jobs and Skills Australia), and where available the QILT graduate starting salary for the matching study area.
| Figure | AUD | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Median full-time weekly earnings | $1400 | Your Career (2026-09-23) |
Jobs, demand and who does this work
Figures for the ANZSCO occupation Painting Trades Worker (332211), the closest official match for painter and decorator, from Your Career (Jobs and Skills Australia data, sourced 2026-09-23).
- People employed
- 51,000
- Future demand
- Moderate
- Work full-time
- 80%
- Average full-time hours
- 42 a week
- Women
- 4%
- Median age
- 40
Where the jobs are (share of workers)
| NSW | 33.1% |
| VIC | 22.9% |
| QLD | 22.9% |
| WA | 9.4% |
| SA | 7% |
| TAS | 2.6% |
| ACT | 1.6% |
| NT | 0.5% |
Highest qualification held by workers
| Postgraduate qualification | 1.4% |
| Bachelor degree | 4.2% |
| Diploma or advanced diploma | 4.8% |
| Certificate I-IV | 51.7% |
| Year 12 | 14.3% |
| Below Year 12 | 18.9% |
What a painter and decorator actually does
Painters and decorators prepare surfaces and apply paint, varnish, wallpaper and decorative finishes inside and outside buildings. Most painters work on a mix of residential and commercial jobs. Days usually start with prep work: filling, sanding, masking and protecting floors and fixtures. Once prep is done, painters cut in with a brush, then roll or spray the body coat. Commercial painters often work after hours in occupied offices and shopping centres because they cannot disrupt trading. Industrial and protective painters apply anti-corrosion coatings to bridges, plant, ships and pipelines. Hours run 7am to 3.30pm in most residential and commercial work. Industrial coating work attracts higher rates but involves more PPE and confined-space certification. Many painters become sub-contractors after 5-7 years.
Typical tasks
- Estimate paint quantities from area calculations.
- Prepare surfaces, including sanding and priming.
- Apply finishes with brush, roller and spray.
Skills you'll use
- Surface prep including sanding, scraping, filling and priming
- Brush, roller and spray application of paint
- Reading paint manufacturer technical data sheets
- Estimating paint quantities from area and number of coats
- Working safely at heights and on scaffolding
- Hand colour matching and decorative finishes
- Customer communication and quoting
How to become one
- 1Finish Year 10 or 12. A pre-apprenticeship Certificate II in Construction Pathways is helpful if you have not yet found a host employer
- 2Secure a host with a residential, commercial or industrial painter and sign an apprenticeship agreement
- 3Complete a 3-year Certificate III in Painting and Decorating (CPC30620) at TAFE alongside paid on-job training
- 4Add a White Card and any extra tickets such as working at heights, EWP and confined space early. These open more job sites
- 5Build experience across domestic, commercial and industrial work in your apprenticeship years
- 6Optional next steps include a Certificate IV in Building and Construction, lead-paint removal accreditation, or specialisation in protective coatings or heritage finishes
Where you can work
- Residential builders and project homes
- Commercial fit-out and shopfitting contractors
- Industrial coatings firms for bridges, plant and pipelines
- Heritage and restoration contractors
- Marine and shipyard painting firms
- Council and government facility maintenance
- Self-employed sole traders and small crews
Career progression
Typical stages and roles. Years of experience are a rough guide; pay at each stage depends on the employer, award or agreement.
- Apprentice0-3 yearsTypical roles: First-year apprentice, Third-year apprentice
- Qualified painter3-8 yearsTypical roles: Domestic painter, Commercial painter, Industrial coatings painter
- Leading hand or sub-contractor8-15 yearsTypical roles: Leading hand, Foreman, Sub-contractor running a small crew
- Business owner or specialist12+ yearsTypical roles: Painting business owner, Decorative finisher, Protective coatings specialist
Is this for you?
You might love this if
- You take pride in clean, neat finishes
- You are patient with prep work
- You can handle the physical demands of ladders, scaffolding and rollers above your head
- You like working with a wide variety of customers and sites
- You want a clear path into self-employment
This might not suit you if
- You have respiratory issues that flare around paint fumes
- You dislike messy, repetitive prep work
- You want a trade with little customer-facing time
Three ways in
Uni, TAFE and trade routes for painter and decorator. Not every career has all three; we only list pathways that actually lead to this occupation.
University
Bachelor degrees that lead to this career.
No direct undergraduate pathway. Consider postgraduate study after a related bachelor degree.
TAFE / VET
Nationally accredited Certificate and Diploma qualifications.
Apprenticeship trade
Earn while you learn through an Australian Apprenticeship.
Sources
ExamExplained does not publish predictive salary figures. For current Australian earnings data check Your Career (yourcareer.gov.au) directly. Career classifications follow the ABS ANZSCO 2022 release.